


Operation: Beacon of Hope

by neverthelessthesun



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Author is supposed to be working on a WIP but isn't, Eat your Fluff Kids, Fix-It, Fluff, Gen, Government Agencies, I know nothing about technology, Literally No Nutritional Value, Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Tony Stark more like Tony Snark, Tony-centric, anti-accords, anti-government, author is on team cap pretty hard tbh, author is sorry, because denial
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-25
Updated: 2017-02-25
Packaged: 2018-09-26 18:35:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9915698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/neverthelessthesun/pseuds/neverthelessthesun
Summary: Post-CA:CW fix-it.“He said ‘If you need me, I’ll be there.’” Tony muttered. “Some kind of ‘Break Glass In Case Of Emergency’ type deal.”





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for clicking! Instead of writing the last piece of my unfinished series, I wrote two thousand words of useless gen fluff. Enjoy.
> 
> Notes at the end contain potential triggers. Spoilers!

.o0o.

“Did he say why he sent it?” Rhodey asked over the edge of the newest StarkPad. 

Tony shrugged. “He said ‘If you need me, I’ll be there.’” He muttered. “Some kind of ‘Break Glass In Case Of Emergency’ type deal.”

“An olive branch?” Rhodes set down the sudoku puzzle he’d been working on and raised an eyebrow. “Seriously?”

“Yeah, well. Steve isn’t the type of guy to stay mad when the fight’s over.”

“Especially if he thinks he won it!” 

Tony waved this off. “Nah, he’s a straight-up goody two shoes. Doesn’t like to burn bridges, and honest about mending them. He’s not being condescending,” Tony ignored the disbelieving huff. “He’s still trying to look out for the people he left behind.”

Rhodey sighed. “You’ve known him longer, so I guess I’ll trust you on that one. I’m just saying that from my perspective? Guy’s nuts. And this phone he gave you should be destroyed before he can use it against you.”

Tony nodded. “I’ll take care of it.”

He got one more long-suffering look before Rhodey walked away. Watching him, Tony still had a bitter anger in his heart for one fleeting second. But then it died. He was so tired of war, of fighting. He fingered the flip phone in his breast pocket. Maybe, he thought, it was time for a little diplomacy. 

“FRIDAY, scan and full strep.”

“There is one saved number, boss. Encrypted six ways. It would take a week to decode, and even then the signal may be bounced. No way to pinpoint location.”

“Mine, or his?”

“Either, boss.”

“Can you copy the data into a Stark encrypted file, bury it in my personals, and lock the flip phone hardware down?”

“Yes boss.”

The flip phone’s screen died and the chip fried. Tony tossed the now useless hunk of plastic on his desk. 

“What shall I name it, boss?”

“Hmm?”

“The file.”

Tony thought for a moment. “Operation three-seven-two-six-five-dash-two-A.”

“Code Name for the Op?”

“Codename Beacon.”

“You got it, boss.”

.o0o.

Five months later there was no sign of Steve Rogers, or any of the others. Natasha was off the grid too—something about a South American drug cartel that needed remodeling. So really it was just Vision, Tony, and Rhodey around when the internet went down.

Long story short, They found themselves dealing with Advanced Idea Mechanics, a literal ticking time bomb, a thousand weaponized hot air balloon drones and no ideas. 

“Hey Stark, you keep that present from our friend in red, white, and blue?” Rhodey asked with a tremble in his voice. “Cause if so, now would be a good time to use it.”

If it were anyone asking but Rhodes, he wouldn’t have done it. But it was true, they needed the manpower. They’d already called in the Spider-Kid and King T’Challa (who had only just arrived), and they were backed in corner with a bomb under the city and no way to find it in time.

Tony shut off his comm and told FRIDAY “Operation Beacon. Get me a secure, ears-only line.” Then, to the comms, “No, had it destroyed.” The Accords Committee was always listening.

The line rang. Tony muted his comm as it went to voicemail. “Steve, I don’t know if you do this voicemail thing on purpose, but there is a bomb under Singapore, and we have twelve hours to find it and shut it down. I have no man power that can fight these drones, I need you to come in. 

“You said you’d be there. Well, here’s your chance. You’ll have to try to keep a low profile, too, the Secretary of State’s on my ass about finding you. Still, 5 and a half million people’s lives are at stake. You aren’t exactly top priority right now.”

There was an awkward pause. “Disconnect.” FRIDAY dropped the line. Tony swore. 

“Any ideas you’ve thought of in the last five minutes?” he asked the open comm. War Machine grunted and fired lasers at the hot air balloon he was tangling with, and Vision was hard pressed to defend against three of them. Tony came out from the nook he’d been hiding in and swung hard, taking another balloon down, but more rose in its place. 

“Not the best conditions for thinking, Iron Man,” Vision retorted, and—was he breathing hard? Vision?

“We have to keep looking.” Peter Parker was definitely breathing hard. This was starting to look hopeless. 

“There is too much ground to cover. There are only the five of us who can destroy these creatures,” Black Panther cuts in. “We need reinforcements.”

An incoming message from FRIDAY pings on the side of his display. It reads, “Operation Beacon Incoming.” Tony grins. They would get reinforcements after all. 

.o0o. 

In the end, four agents working under a guy going by “Nomad” (good cover story, Captain) dropped in and doubled their workforce. It was still luck that they found the bomb at all. Tony was pretty sure it was Wanda, Clint, Sam, and that blonde—Sharon Carter. He wanted to ask where Bucky was. 

He wanted to ask a lot of things, actually, but the team was good—they tapped into the comms, wore all black and covered their faces, and they left without a trace as soon as the crisis was over. The agent Tony was pretty sure was Clint found the bomb in an abandoned supply closet off a rarely used segment of underground railway. He diffused it with less than a minute to spare, then Nomad personally caught half of the AIM goons before they all disappeared like smoke. 

The UN and the Accords Committee were furious.

“These vigilantes were not acting in accordance with the Accords!” yet another angry senator or national ambassador screamed. “They need to be neutralized!”

“With all due respect, sir,” Rhodey placated, “Those guys, whoever they were, saved five and a half million people yesterday. They saved me personally more than once. If they are acting outside the law, they aren’t the ones we should be concerned about. Frankly I’m more interested in what the members of this committee have to say about where AIM was receiving their funding for such an atrocity. The drones we fought? They took time and resources to create. Where’s the full hearing on that?”

“Now, War Machine, the matter will be looked into as part of the international investigation. The…troubled…individuals that were arrested will be given legal counsel as well. But what we are concerned about now is these…agents and their leader, who have managed to avoid the law.”

Tony seethed. He wasn’t allowed in the room for debriefs anymore. He was watching on a monitor from another room, or else he would have already started a world war. 

Rhodey looked like he might do it anyway. “Those “troubled” guys that were arrested tried to murder five million people as an attention gimmick! And you want to lock up the guys who caught them? I’m sorry, but I can’t agree with—“

“It is not your job to agree, Colonel Rhodes, only to shoot what we point you at.” The Committee head snarled. “We are asking for more information on the vigilante known as “Nomad” and his friends. Will you help us, or will you step out of that suit for good?”

Tony raged. 

Rhodey had fire in his eyes, but his expression was blank. “I will comply.” 

.o0o.

After another six months of milk runs and publicity, Tony started to feel like the dancing monkey Steve used to complain about. 

There had been other sightings of Nomad and his team, in the Mendoza Province of Argentina and Chisinau, Moldova and Alexandria, Egypt and Port Vila, The capitol of Vanuatu.

“Pacific Islands? Eastern Europe? What were they doing in the Mendoza Province?”

“They were at Aconcagua Provincial Park. The tallest mountain outside of East Asia.”

“Why?”   
“Maybe they were doing a bit of sightseeing, boss.”

“Rhetorical, FRIDAY. Gotta work on that.”

.o0o.

About a full two years after the Accords were signed, they were set on fire and burned. 

Tony didn’t have a good track record with authority, so really it’s a miracle he lasted that long. But he wasn’t the one that started it—Bruce did. It was nice to have an excuse to set fire to the UN, though, so Tony wasn’t exactly shy once things got started. 

“Well, I am ever so glad to be out of the government’s pocket! I can stretch my legs out here. And Bruce! So glad you could make it! You really couldn’t have smashed the place any sooner? No? Well, next time. Natasha, I haven’t seen you in months! They keep you locked up for that long?”

Natasha smiled and there was blood on her teeth. “They tried.”

Tony brightened. “Well I’m glad you didn’t let it get to you. I would have come looking, but I was strung up like a pig for the slaughter. I did send Rhodey, that has to count for something. Rhodey, dearest! How’s it been?”

“No longer bleeding out, and Pepper texted to say she’s so mad at you but she’s proud and she hopes it’s okay if she runs the company while you’re a fugitive from the law.”

“She runs it even when I’m at home,” Tony chuckles. “Clint, glad to see you standing. Weird to see you and not your ski mask. What’s it been, two years?”

“Yeah, unless you count the cell bars. Then it was a little longer.”  
Tony winced. “Yeah. I’ve got some apologizing to do.”

“Yeah.” Clint grabbed his shoulder and pulled him in for a hug. “Glad you aren’t dead.”

“You too, buddy. Vision! Jesus! Stop with the coming up through the floor!”

“Is this similar to the issue with doors?”

“You have no idea, buddy. Everything in working order?”

“I am optimal.”

“Sweet. Spidey? Oh he’s asleep. Did anyone make sure he’s okay? He’s got a biology test tomorrow. He good? Thanks, uh, Lang? Scott Lang? That’s you, right? Listen, The tech you've got, I’m a big fan. Just, uh, word for the wise…Keep it away from my tech. I don’t want you to touch me. Respect, man, and we aren’t enemies, but if you decide to crawl around inside my tech again, truce over man. We cool? Great. Uh.” 

“I am flattered, Stark. You saved the best for last,” Wanda murmured. 

“No, just the hardest.” Tony finally met her eyes. “I am. Sorry. For what I did to you. It was wrong, and I will never forgive myself.”

“Tony.” she arched an eyebrow at him. “You did what you thought was right—“

“Yes, and I did it well. But I was wrong. That’s the rub, being good at everything, you are also good at bad things. Which you know all about. So I will never ever bother you again if you don’t want me to, but I just had to say that.”

Wanda nodded, her knuckles white. 

“And that leaves O Captain my Captain. Good fight, Spangles. Practically comic book worthy.”

“Tony, I—“

“Nope, you don’t get to apologize yet! I have the monopoly on apologizing, even if I sold some of my stocks on being an asshole. There’s enough of that to go around but this? This is my apology moment, and you will not steal it from me!”

“…O”kay.”

“Well, that was it mostly. I apologize.”

“Apology accepted.”

“Great. I accept your apology too.”

“I didn’t—“

“You were going to!”

“I was just going to ask if you wanted to join my task force.”

“Is that a euphemism?”

“What? No. The team, Tony.”

“You’re asking me to join the team? I didn’t even officially join the first team, I’m so honored, I’d like to thank the Academy—“

A voice called from the pilot seat. “Are you sure you can’t throw him out?”

“Sharon Carter! I knew I was missing someone.” Tony smiled, proud of himself. Then he frowned as he did a headcount. “What about King Friskies and the Cyborg?”

“On our way to Barnes’ location now. The Panther should be with him.”

“Where would that be?”

Steve smiled. “Wakanda.”

“You’re kidnapping me and taking me to Wakanda!?”

This was going to be fun.

**Author's Note:**

> This fic includes mild language, canon-typical violence toned WAY down, oppressive government agencies using one or more characters like weapons, and depersonalization of said characters briefly. Let me know if you feel that I should add more triggers.
> 
> This fic also includes geography references, absolutely no Bucky Barnes except by name (even though he is my son and i love him) and sass. From Tony. Who else would it be from?


End file.
